This is a classic bowl by Steve Lucas.  He is one of the leading Hopi-Tewa potters working today.  Each piece is coil built, stone polished, painted with native clay slips and bee-weed (black), and traditionally fired.  Steve has won “Best of Show” at Santa Fe Indian Market and his work remains some of the most refined and creative.  The design on this bowl has two Sikyatki-inspired birds.  It’s easy to see the bird tails, but the birds are made up of more geometric designs.  Nampeyo of Hano “deconstructed” designs to create her imagery, and Steve does much the same to create designs on his pottery.  The birds are painted with bee-weed (black) and have red polished areas. The base of the bowl is fully polished red. Steve is the one who introduced the micaceous red clay slip to Hopi-Tewa pottery.  The bowl was traditionally fired which created the blushes on the surface.  The bowl is signed on the bottom in the clay, “S. Lucas” and a mudhead (koyemsi) and an ear of corn (corn clan).  It is in excellent condition with no chips, cracks, restoration, or repair.

“When I first learned to make pottery, the red slip painted in the designs was difficult to work with. It wouldn’t take heat very well and would scorch and turn black. The red was also difficult to polish. My aunt Dextra had a deep red color clay slip and I decided to experiment with it. I took some of our base clay and added the red to it and it polished very well. I then decided to put some mica in there to get that sparkle. That’s where the new red came from, and Dextra liked how it turned out. I introduced them to that. It was nice that for my teacher, Dextra, I was able to share and teach her something.”  Steve Lucas, Spoken Through Clay